Ok time for a serious review cuz this game deserves it.

Unicorn Overlord is my 2024 GOTY and we're only 3 months in. I've been looking forward to this game since it was announced and I'm glad to say it's surpassed even the lofty expectations I had for it. I'll try to organize my thoughts as briefly as possible:

Gameplay: A genuine sandbox. The amount of options you have when it comes to unit placement, unit class, equipment, skill selection, skill activation requirements etc etc etc is astounding. This game relishes in giving its player as many tools as possible. The best part is, it does so without sacrificing wide appeal. Save for the highest difficulty, players can honestly get by on pure team composition. BUT, for people who really click with this combat, there is an invigorating amount of possibility and optimization. I'm already brainstorming my next playthru. That's not even mentioning all the gameplay in the overworld...the joy of gathering materials and rebuilding towns, finding secret treasure and solving puzzles...there is just so much baked into this game to love.

Art: This one is a bit subjective, but personally, I see Unicorn Overlord as the best looking game Vanillaware has ever put out. Environments are gorgeous and varied, character designs are elegant yet distinct and the combat animations are the best the studio has ever produced by a noticeable margin. All this, and the game allows you to recruit fully customizable units of almost every class AND with certain items, even customize the looks of main character units. Beyond just the character art, I'm blown away by the world map. The whole world of Fevrith is as enjoyable to look at as it is to explore, and amazingly, every single encounter takes place within it. It's not just the overworld, it's an interconnected series of maps you have to fight thru. The amount of artistry and planning that went into this game is honestly insane.

Music: I have a lot more insight on the art as someone who draws but to my untrained ear this is yet another banger soundtrack from Vanillaware. Thoroughly enjoyed all the music this game had to offer. Once the full OST releases I imagine it will join my weekly work playlist rotation right alongside 13 Sentinels'

Story: This will definitely be the most contentious aspect of the game. Not because the story is bad but simply because every other aspect around it is so comparatively stellar. I don't see this as a major flaw though. You could say 13 sentinels is a narrative with a game built around it, and in turn, that Unicorn Overlord is a game with a narrative built around that. I think both approaches are totally valid and honestly I found the main story to be charming despite its simplicity at times. I would earnestly question if a lot of the people who complain about the writing ever bothered to explore the rapport scenes, which offer a ton of genuinely fun character writing. Is it going to totally blow ur dick off when you reach the end of its narrative? No. But Unicorn overlord isn't trying to reinvent the wheel narratively like 13 Sentinels did, and that's fine.

Overall, I'm in awe at the sheer amount of work that went into this game and what a triumph it is for a studio of under 40 people. Vanillaware is on a tear right now and I can only hope this game gets as much love as 13 sentinels got, maybe even more, cuz it deserves it.